Development update Jan2013

[StarFire]

Hi Friends,

We are now back in the studio full time ready to move Skyline to the next level. We have been planning the new features and bug fix schedule for the next few weeks.

What we are aiming to add in the next update:

• Scene context menu for easy additions to the scene such as New>Mesh, New>light etc
• New simplified Action work flow from context menu on selected object.
• Quick save to preset from context menu.
• Redesign of the preset library to make it a full browser. We are leaving the current version as a favorites pallet for quick access to frequently used presets. The new browser will be in its own window with an explorer type of access to all of the libraries so you can see all available assets easily.

Here are some screens of development:






We have also been playing with Networking and have created a prototype cloud development system where we have had 2 PCs working on the same scene at the same time. This will enable users from different countries to work together in the same scene. Currently we have added over the network; scene entity's, edited terrain height and painting, there is a lot still to add and work flow improvements to make. Its not ready for a release but we will keep you informed, this is all very exciting

[ant0N]

YES! this is exactly what I wanted! thank you guys!!!:D

[dbest]

Pretty neat.

I am having loads of crashes while running the December build of engine on my laptop, but cannot seem to replicate the issue, and it seems like something different all the time.

[StarFire]

@dbest: If you can get some of the crashes to be repeatable we can then look at fixing them for you. Some of the crashes could be due to low system resources, in what areas are the crashes occurring?

btw: What spec is your lap top?

[dbest]

@dbest: If you can get some of the crashes to be repeatable we can then look at fixing them for you. Some of the crashes could be due to low system resources, in what areas are the crashes occurring?

btw: What spec is your lap top?

Intel Core i5 2.26Ghz, 4 GB RAM, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 with 1GB Dedicated RAM. Its more than 2 years old.

[iamcheeseontoast]

I have a similar spec laptop and skyline runs on it.

[ucm]

@Night Hawk: Awesome news man!

I look forward to playing with the next realease alright

[dbest]

I have a similar spec laptop and skyline runs on it.

did you choose the dx9 renderer?

[iamcheeseontoast]

Yes DX9. I know opengl and 11 dont work LOL.

I get the empty space at the bottom, same as in another post but it runs ok.

[dbest]

Yes DX9. I know opengl and 11 dont work LOL.

I get the empty space at the bottom, same as in another post but it runs ok.

I chose opengl coz dx9 didnt work well for me. The scenes didnt load when I chose dx9.

[SolarPortal]

@dbest: i see you are using an ATI card, it has been reported by another user using an ATI card that they couldnt load the scenes either.
Heres the post: http://www.chi-ad.com/Skyline/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=148

Q> Do your scenes crash when loading or come in with a black/grey color?

Try disabling all the post fx on a scene. This is a little tricky as scenes do not come back with the post fx that are enabled; you will need to check and uncheck them. In the new version of skyline to come, post fx load back and show which fx are enabled

Note: It is best to run in DX9 mode, as this is the only renderer we are making work so far, everything else is untested. OpenGL should be ok as all shaders are written using CG.

[dbest]

@dbest: i see you are using an ATI card, it has been reported by another user using an ATI card that they couldnt load the scenes either.
Heres the post: http://www.chi-ad.com/Skyline/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=148

Q> Do your scenes crash when loading or come in with a black/grey color?

Try disabling all the post fx on a scene. This is a little tricky as scenes do not come back with the post fx that are enabled; you will need to check and uncheck them. In the new version of skyline to come, post fx load back and show which fx are enabled

Note: It is best to run in DX9 mode, as this is the only renderer we are making work so far, everything else is untested. OpenGL should be ok as all shaders are written using CG.

Cheers. I suppose I should have searched a bit more.. My bad.
I will try the fix for the DX9.

With OpenGL, the editor crashes randomly, however the scenes are displayed. I believe, OGL would need a bit more testing.

[StarFire]

Cheers. I suppose I should have searched a bit more.. My bad.
I will try the fix for the DX9..

With OpenGL, the editor crashes randomly, however the scenes are displayed. I believe, OGL would need a bit more testing.

To help the ogl testing; It would be great if you could document any issues and where they occur so we can look at the problems further. If you can post these to a new topic, many thanks.

Random crashes: Generally there is a pattern to the crashes all though they may not seem obvious straight away. Again it would be great if you can keep an eye on them and hopefully a pattern will emerge

[SolarPortal]

Development Update:
Heres a screenshot of the new Preset Management System that is in development.



The icons will be pictures of the preset itself, eg. for a model type it will show the model being used. For lights, it will indicate what Light type it is aswell as the color of the light.

The Panel on the left, shows all the preset libraries that are in the resources or in a projects resources which is automatically scanned on first opening of the dialog or when the refresh libraries button is pressed.

Each preset will store its own description which will allow you to leave more detailed notes on a particular preset, as you may have multiple presets the same, e.g. different size meshes, different coloration's, Different actions applied.

The Preset Libraries in the tree will be able to be placed into folders for better organizing. These folders arent used for anything other than organizing your libraries. eg. Have a props folder with crates.xPreset and Barrels.xPreset to keep them in the same place. These folders will load and save with the editor to always keep your presets organised.

[iamcheeseontoast]

1 - Is it still actual libaries and not individual presets

2 - Will it show all preset libaries ie those in skyline and your own projects.

3 - In left side will it expand as a normal exploroer window.

Would be better to be defauld part of editor rather than another popup

[SolarPortal]

1 - Is it still actual libaries and not individual presets

both. The panel on the left are all the preset libraries you have e.g. the .xPreset files and these are auto loaded in from anywhere in the Skyline SDK Folder.
The Panel with the large Icons are the individual Presets that are associated with the Preset Library selected on the left panel as described before.

2 - Will it show all preset libaries ie those in skyline and your own projects.

The libraries are the left Panel list.

3 - In left side will it expand as a normal exploroer window.

The left panel will act like the scene entity list with folders. So yes it is an explorer style window

Would be better to be defauld part of editor rather than another popup

This needs to be another window to display the information better. The current Entity Presets panel(the one your using) will become a favorites preset panel. This means you can drag a preset library from the Presets Manager(new window being developed) onto the Entity Presets panel and keep that open at all times and store in on one of the icons. The Preset manager window can then be closed down until required again.

[iamcheeseontoast]

thanks for the clarification. Liking the idea of the favs, nice work..